As some of you may know, Final Fantasy and I are not on the best of terms.

What It Feels Like, Every Time I Try A New Final Fantasy Game.

In what has become a byproduct of writing about gaming for long enough, the subject has come up before. This mention will likely not be the last time either, as the series will march on, refusing to die like the bastard zombie it really is.

And Like Other Bastard Zombies Before Final Fantasy, Lightning Only Seems To Make Matters Worse.

I bring all of this up now, as relevant information regarding the unlife of the series has recently popped up. For anyone who can’t be assed to click that hyperlink, I refer to the committee Square Enix has formed, in order to “better moderate the quality” of the series. Moderation can only occur when you have content to moderate, other wise, you only possess a willing force wanting to make change, but failing to do so. These defenders of justice will be left standing around in a void of nothing in this scerario, which is about where I’d say the FF series has remained for closer to a decade.

My how time flies when gameplay is nothing bu a grind. It’s scary to think one of the last time’s I had fun with the series (despite it’s estranged identity with the rest of the FF games), involved waiting around in a field for three hours, so I could possibly not die to a monster who may drop a weapon that will increase my dps by 1%.

What Retro Fun!

Remember The Good Old Days? Like That Time When We Made Our 12th Character Build, And For The Life Of Us Could Not Attack Tunnel Worm 6789?

I will never forget it.

I only mean to point out the series has been suffering, at least in regards to my lack of engagement, for a terribly long time. Why now, Square has decided to “moderate” what they’ve already lost is beyond me. I’d also like to point out, if you want to be held credibly as an organization for your own failings, you don’t create your own police force to do it. This is as effective as having a member of AA commit to being your DD, and represents a big FU to even the most basic of IQ.

All I mean to say, is there are more ideal candidates for the job.

How The New Director Of The Final Fantasy Committee Reacted, When He Heard He Had Got The Job.

Development teams are suppose to contain members and staff who all help each other out, having specific talents to help meld the entire experience. This is once removed from a design by committee scenario, as the design consists of a sum of parts, and not the sum of one whole. I don’t know if Square Enix is trying to legitimately cater to the wide breadth of negative feedback from fans, or if this committee exists as a sound barrier, to drown out the criticism all together. A bunch of yes men, reinforcing the messy ideas they helped to create in the first place, stands as a very dubious strategy to cater to a solution, and may end up just cultivating the problem.

Sometimes, The Most Obvious Solution Is Not Always The Best One.

I don’t know if this committee will really produce any results, not having one certainly isn’t. The series has been so far removed from my own enjoyment of video games, seeing it get back on it’s feet would be a more horrifying experience than a relieving one. Perhaps, pointing a finger at one single element for the transformation of what Final Fantay has become is unfair. The series may have been a product of the times, and as the times continued to change, so did the product. The global gaming economy ultimately decided the fate of the series, and FF does not stand alone in this sad reality. Many of my favorite series have changed, and from my perceptions, for the worst, as the gaming market continues to march on.

These games that continue to change, these products, are far greater in scope and service a large majority far removed from my own interests. These games service such a wide group of people, in an attempt to grow an audience, it’s these people who really represent the committee. The ever changing want of different, topical, or consumable is their design, and one that tries to satiate an impossible hunger, and endlessly seeks ultimate satisfaction.

A rhetorical challenge, and a pursuit that devolves into madness.

Square may have formed an official quality committee, but I think an unspoken one will continue to pass final judgement on fantasy without anyone’s consent for as long as any of us are gaming.